A 54-year-old former police lieutenant has pled guilty to offenses related to child pornography. Timothy Woll of Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania, is said to have engaged in the crimes that he has confessed to, during his tenure as a police lieutenant for the Cumru Township Police Department in Berks County.
"This is an appalling case. The defendant was a member of a law enforcement organization charged with enforcing the law and protecting the public, but instead he chose to break the law and acquire child pornography," said US Attorney William M. McSwain, in a statement.
Child Pornography Charges
In March 2020, Woll was charged with transportation of child pornography, along with access with intent to view child pornography. The charges arose from the 54-year-old's intent to watch and to transfer content involving child pornography from his personal computer to his Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage account in January 2019.
During the examination of the Woll's computer, the authorities discovered that nearly 200 distinct images of child pornography were stored on his personal OneDrive account. What makes his arrest even more disturbing is that during the time of the investigation, he was employed as a police lieutenant at the Cumru Township Police Department in Berks County. He was also the custodian of evidence at the department.
Highlighting the dreadful nature of the crime, McSwain added, "We stand ready with our federal and local partners to identify and prosecute all those who would prey upon minor children, no matter who they are."
Punishment That The Charges Carry
Based on the charges that Woll has pled guilty to, he faces a mandatory minimum term of five years in prison. Along with this, he also faces a statutory maximum sentence of 40 years and a fine of $500,000. Following his prison terms, he could be under supervised release for a lifetime.
Michael J. Driscoll, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Philadelphia Division conveyed the FBI's commitment to bring those who seek out child pornography and engaged in sexual exploitation of young children to justice. Condemning Woll's actions, he said, "The fact that a fellow law enforcement officer was involved with such material was extraordinarily disheartening to all of us. We and our partners will never stop working to save kids from physical and emotional harm."
